acceptance. In the last-mentioned place, when he had read his text and come to his division, he observed, that they must not be surprised if he should occasionally wander from the line marked out; but if he was not misinformed, they were not unaccustomed to this. This stroke so pleased the venerable pastor, in connexion with the spiritual excellent discourse Mr. Toothil delivered, that at the close he rose, and said, this wandering preacher would again оссиру that pulpit on such a night; but Mr. Toothil was obliged to state he could not, as he was engaged to preach elsewhere on that evening.

Among his own people Mr. Toothil was highly respected and beloved. He had the art of securing those who once became his friends. To the younger part of his flock he paid considerable attention; and when he perceived they became attentive hearers, he occasionally wrote to them, stating the most important truths, and putting questions on Christian experience, which he requested them candidly to answer. In this manner he elicited what they knew and experienced of the power of the Gospel.

Mr. Toothil never appeared before the public as an author but once. His venerable tutor, Mr. Scott, having appointed him to preach his funeral sermon, and ordered it to be printed, from gratitude and esteem he complied; and this Discourse, founded on Hab. iii. 17, contains the character of his mind, and may be regarded as a specimen of his style of preaching.

Mr. Toothil was always an early riser, and spent the morning in reading, meditation, and prayer. In his habits he was frugal and unexpensive. He did not live for the sole end of eating and drinking, as they do whose God is their belly; but he took what nature required with thankfulness, and moderation. Hence he was enabled to save more

I shall be like thee, when I see thee as thou art."

The last time he requested to have reading and prayer, he said:

"We must begin with prayer-go on with prayer-end with prayer. Pray without ceasing."

After a fainting fit, he said in a most impressive manner,

"Into thy hands I commit my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. Lord Jesus receive my spirit. He will receive me. There may be great and sore afflictions, but no condemnation."

وو

Thus lived, and thus died, this monument of mercy and free grace; for he could and did adopt experimentally the apostle's words, "By the grace of God I am what I am. In giving some account of his experience, and call to the ministry, he did it that men might see, admire, and praise, the love and kindness of God.

"Then in the history of my age,
When men review my days,
They'll read thy love in every page,
In every line thy praise."

ROWLANDIANA.

NO. V.

"DEAF adders have been charmed by the Word, and captivated by its enchantment. Their ears have been unstopped-their hearts have been opened, and the music of the Gospel has thrilled through their joints and marrow. Now there are no songs like the songs of Zion. Now there is no pleasure like that of religion. The flint is turned into flesh-the tumultuous sea is hushed into a calm-and the mountains of Gilboa are clothed with herbs and flowers, where a little before there was not a green blade to be seen. See the mighty change that grace effects in the human heart! It converts Zaccheus, the rapacious taxgatherer, into a restorer of what he had unjustly gotten, and a merciful reliever of the distressed and needy. It tames the furious, persecuting Saul, and makes him gentle as a lamb. It reduces Felix to such anguish of mind,

that he trembles like an aspen leaf. It disposes Peter to leave his nets, and enables him to catch thousands of souls in the net of the Gospel. Behold! the world is converted to the faith, not by the magicians of Egypt, but by the outcasts of Judea. The words of fishermen are read,' saith Austin, 'and learned orators yield them the palm of victory.' They who are taken from the oar, confute philosophers, overthrow the strong holds of idolatry, and plant Christianity on its ruins. They could

with truth assert, what in the Roman emperor was mere arrogance and gasconade-Veni, vidi, vinci'—I came, I saw, I conquered; for they overcame as many nations as they saw, not with the edge of the sword, but with the What hath sword of the Spirit. befallen you, O sinners! that you forsake your sinful courses, and abhor those wicked practices in which you once took the greatest delight? Why do you flee like trembling hinds, and quake at the voice of a man?-Verily, the finger of God hath done this!

"If the cedars fall, let the fig-trees tremble-they may be rooted up by the same tempest. Though the cloud may be gathering at a distance, yet it may break over our heads. The sword that hath drank the blood of yonder people, may possibly not be satisfied till it hath been glutted with ours also. When the next house is on fire, shall I unconcernedly warm myself at its flames? May not a spark fly from it and catch my roof? Let Nero sing while Rome is burning; but let the losses of others be an admonition to us. Happy is the man who learns instruction from the corrections of others, and provides for his own safety when he sees the judgments of God hovering around him!

"Afflictions have often been productive of great good to the wicked, and always have a tendency to drive believers nearer to God. Manasseh and Nebuchadnezzar had reason to thank God for those mercies, in disguise, which were the instruments of their conversion. Did success invariably attend our undertakings, and were we always strangers to sickness of body and anxiety of mind, what vain creatures should we be! How should we wander, like blazing comets, from our centre of rest, and diffuse our baneful influence far and wide! When Alexander sup

poses himself to be great, great is the flattery which reigns in his court. This twists round his heart, and ascribes immortality to him, calling him a God! As it is easy to prevail upon us to think of ourselves more highly than we ought, and to set a greater value upon outward marks of distinction than they really deserve, so Alexander greedily swallowed the delicious bait, and never discovered his error till he groaned in the midst of the poisonous draught, and was carried out of the fatal feast half dead. Then he knew that he was a man-a mortal man. Behold! how much better had adversity been than such prosperity! The poor are not liable to such extravagant adulation. In them, therefore, the bubble of pride cannot be blown to so great a size. It cannot be full tide in the mind when the possessions are low; and when the breasts of the world are embittered, who can suck vanity out of them? What renders home more pleasant to us than being exercised with difficulties, or involved in dangers while abroad? If it were not for the frost and cold of winter, we should not be so glad to see the return of summer. It was when the prodigal was feeding on husks that he thought best of his father's house. When do our souls pant the least after our eternal home? Alas! it is when we are clothed in purple-when pride rustles in silk, or is adorned with needlework-when riches flow in upon us, and descend like rain into a fleece when honour smiles upon us, and every thing we take in hand succeeds. Oh! success without grace, is the greatest curse that can befall us. Ephraim, unaccustomed to the yoke, lifts up his heel against heaven; but Israel, when smitten and slain, returned and sought early after God. David's most melodious sonnets were indited in his sorest troubles, and amidst floods of tears; wherefore, saith he, 'It is good for me that I have been afflicted!"""

a weekly meeting for prayer and Christian fellowship. The subject to which they relate "The Necessity of Prayer, considered as connected with the prosperity of the believer individually, and with that of the church generally "-is, confessedly, of the highest importance, and particularly so in the present day, when so much is said, and so much is done, for the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom. The deep conviction of this, Sir, is the only apology that I, as one devoted to the cause of Christ, have to offer for venturing to transmit these remarks for your perusal, in the hope that you may deem them deserving of a place in your valuable and widely circulated publication. Praying for the peace of Jerusalem,

I am, Rev. Sir,
Your humble servant,

Edin. Aug. 15,
1826.

J. C.

MY BELOVED CHRISTIAN FRIends,

May grace, and mercy, and peace, be abundantly manifested unto you, to the end ye may be settled and established in the faith, the hope, and the comfort of the Gospel! As a Christian friend-one who hopes that he has, in common with you, tasted that the Lord is gracious-I rejoice to hear of your profession of the Gospel, and am anxious to stir you up to run with greater alacrity and vigour the race which is set before you. This, also, I consider as a privilege on my part. It is a prilike many vilege, however, which, others connected with my dear native island, I am not long to enjoy. The day is not far distant when a wide expanse of waters must lie between us, and when I must think of you only as of those who, while my dwelling is in some solitary wilderness, are pursuing their way to heaven, amidst all the privileges and endearments of their earthly home; yet as of those, also, with whom, when their work and mine is done, I hope to spend a blessed eternity. In the prospect of all this, my heart is filled with affection towards you; and I feel as if anxious to draw still closer that tie which binds us together as the professed followers of Him who said to his disciples—“ Love one another." So true is it, that "be who loveth Him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him."

Your little meeting has been long

with me an object of tenderest solicitude. But while you sit with safety under your own vine, without any to make you afraid; while with joy ye draw water out of this little well of salvation, which the Lord has opened for you in the wilderness, you are not, I trust, unmindful of those millions of your fellow-men, who are perishing for lack of knowledge. They who love Jesus, love the interest of Jesus; and they who love his interest, cannot cease to labour, and especially to pray, for its universal extension.

The kingdom of the Saviour is as yet confined within narrow limits; but a day, my dear friends, a blessed day of forth-breaking on the right hand and on the left, is awaiting it. Other sheep the good Shepherd has; them also he must bring, that there may be one fold as there is one Shepherd. The speedy accomplishment of this is, I hope, the subject of your mutual, your earnest, your unceasing supplications.

Of such high importance, indeed, is prayer, when viewed in connexion with the prosperity of the individual believer, and with that of the church in general, that I shall here take the liberty of particularly directing your attention to this interesting topic.

In the Christian life, the importance of prayer is so generally allowed, that for any one to speak of a prayerless Christian, would only be to expose himself to general derision, for what would at once appear to all a gross contradiction in terms. As easily might the body of a believer in Christ live without food, as his soul without prayer. So essential, indeed, is the constant practice of this duty to the spiritual life and character of a follower of the Redeemer, that that man's Christianity may be fairly and justly questioned, who can contentedly live in the daily habitual neglect of it. While it is the Christian's perpetual acknow, ledgment, it is also his perpetual remembrancer of his daily, his hourly dependance on divine grace and mercy throughout his earthly pilgrimage. It brings consolation in distress; strength in weakness; light in darkness; sup, port in the hour of trial and temptation. It enters into every duty, and into every privilege of the Christian's life, preparing him for the right discharge of the one, and for the advantageous improvement of the other; and consti

tutes the very element in which he breathes.

There is, perhaps, no part of our blessed Lord's example which appears in so interesting a light as that of his devotion, He prayed in the wilderness he prayed in the garden-he rose up a great while before day, and went out to a solitary place, and there prayed -he went up into a mountain and continued all night in prayer to God. How strikingly does this illustrate, in one point of view, that injunction of the Apostle-" Pray without ceasing,”

Now, though the example of the Saviour gives to the duty of prayer, as it does to every other Christian duty, an importance of the highest description, yet the very circumstances in which believers are placed in the present world, render the unceasing performance of it absolutely necessary, From the remainders of depravity which are, more or less, to be found in every renewed soul, arise numberless sins and short-comings. For the remission of these, the Christian requires to come daily in the exercise of prayer as well as of faith, to the fountain which has been opened for his cleansing. He is continually exposed, also, to enemies numerous, subtle, and powerful, against whom he is commanded not merely to use the shield of faith, but to pray always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and to watch thereunto with thanksgiving. The afflictions and the necessities of believers return without ceasing. Every new day brings new wants; and every new duty calls for new strength. "Bodily sickness and pain; inward grief and anguish; the unkind nesses of friends; the abuses of enemies; the disappointments of the world;" all these call for fervent, unwearied, unceasing prayer.

I do not say, however, that the mere performance of this or of any other duty will make any man a Christian; but this much I must say (and while I do so, your consciences, my beloved friends, bear witness that I speak truth) that if we be Christians, it is impossible that we should live in the partial, much less the habitual neglect of it. While this brings an awful charge against all such as neither in the closet nor in the family attend to this duty, it also furnishes us with a reason why the people of God are so

frequently found, and take so much delight, in the discharge of it. That they have done, and still do so, will not be questioned. In the days of Malachi, when iniquity was abounding amongst the Jews to an almost incredible extent, and the love of many was, no doubt, waxing cold, "they who feared the Lord spoke often one to another.' In Ezek. chap. ix. we are informed, that before the destroying angel was permitted to inflict the vengeance of the Almighty on the wicked of the land, another angel (so watchful is the Lord over his own people) was commanded to go forth and mark out for deliverance those who sighed and cried for the abominations which were committed in the midst of it. So cha racteristic was prayer of the followers of Christ in the early periods of the New Testament dispensation, that they were frequently denominated, "Those who called on the name of the Lord."

Permit us now, my beloved friends, to urge on you not merely the conscientious performance of the duty of prayer, but especially the cherishing of that spirit-that breathing and panting of the soul after God, in which its real nature consists. That all of you make conscience of this duty, I have every reason to believe. You retire regularly to your closets. You lay on the altar your morning and evening sacrifices. But is the closet never lonely? Are these seasons never unwelcome? And why is it thus with you? Ye, perhaps, regard prayer more in the light of a duty than of a privilege. O endeavour to obtain more of its spirit. Let it be more the constant habit of your souls. In private open your hearts fully and freely before God. In your daily occupations-in your intercourse with society, let your souls rise in frequent, earnest breathings to the throne of grace. When perplexed with fears and doubts, lift up your hearts to the Lord. When beset with temptations, lift up your heart to the Lord. When struggling with difficulties and trials, lift up your heart to the Lord. When sensible of an aversion to the duty itself, let this be an argument with you for the immediate performance of it. Spiritual declension is never more certain than when prayer becomes a burden, and never more effectually removed than by immediate, frequent recourse to the throne

of grace. O endeavour, then, to abide continually beneath the shadow of the Almighty. Forget not, that between a praying spirit and your own spiritual prosperity, an inseparable connexion exists. Seek the Lord in this spirit; wait on the Lord in this spirit; then shall your peace abound like the waves of the sea.

I shall now consider prayers as connected with the prosperity of the church in general.

If there be one thing more wanting than another, in all that is at present doing for the prosperity of the Redeemer's kingdom, at home and abroad, I believe it to be an earnest, wrestling spirit of believing prayer. So intimately, so inseparably connected is such a spirit with the prosperity of this kingdom, that, without exception, every instance of success with which it has been favoured, whether in these or in former times, may be fairly traced to an answer granted to the voice of believing prayer.

When the proud Assyrian invaded, the second time, the land of Judea, in the days of Hezekiah, the king, the afflicted monarch carried the impious letter of that haughty blasphemer to the temple, and spread it before the Lord; and, by prayer and supplication, obtained what the swords of his armed men never could have accomplished without it. When he was brought thus to feel his dependance on the arm of Jehovah, and thus to present his prayers before him for the deliverance of himself and of his people, the prophet was commissioned to say to him"Thus saith the Lord, wherever thou hast prayed unto me against Sennacherib," not "because thou hast sent forth thine armies and marshalled against him thy great men, and thy strong men," but "Whereas thon hast prayed unto me against Sennacherib, therefore he shall not come into this city."

When the time drew near that the children of Israel were to be delivered from their captivity in the land of Chaldea, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Daniel to pray to him for this very deliverance. When the apostles of our Lord were employed, after his ascension, in propagating his Gospel in Judea and in the neighbouring countries, they are said to have given themselves to the ministry of the word and